The Federal Aviation Administration has paused SpaceX's the launch of its Starship rocket as the U.S. agency oversees an investigation by the private company of the breakup after a test launch Thursday.

A fire in the aft section of SpaceX's Starship trigged the apparent explosion that destroyed the spacecraft, the company says.

The United States on Friday grounded SpaceX's Starship and ordered Elon Musk's company to investigate why the spaceship spectacularly disintegrated in a fiery cascade over the Caribbean during its latest test mission.